Stockton No. 2 in violent crime

STOCKTON - About 14 of every 1,000 residents in Stockton were victims of crime in 2011, a year in which the city was yet again the second most violent city in California.

Jordan Guinn and Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - About 14 of every 1,000 residents in Stockton were victims of violent crime in 2011, a year in which the city was yet again the second most violent city in California.

In crimes per capita, only Oakland outpaces Stockton.

And bucking the trend for most large cities in the state, violent crime in Stockton increased. Two-thirds of California's largest cities saw the rate of violent crime drop in 2011. And with the city's homicide rate at more than double what it was at this time last year - and robberies and assaults on the rise - it is possible 2012 may be even more violent.

The latest crime statistics are alarming and underscore law enforcement's need to focus on violent crime, said Eric Jones, chief of the Stockton Police Department.

"We are working very hard to knock down the violent crime," Jones said. "Guns and gangs are our top focus. We've seen some pretty bold shootings and a lot of brazen activity. People are feeling very comfortable carrying guns around."

While violent crime statistics improved from the previous year in most California cities with a population of 100,000 or more, the rate of violent crime in Stockton trended upward, according to a Record analysis of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual preliminary Uniform Crime Report.

Nationwide, Stockton was the 10th most violent city on a list topped by Flint, Mich. Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland and Memphis, Tenn., rounded out the top five.

"It's not a list we want to be on and we're working to get off of it," Jones said.

The chief pointed to a real-time policing strategy, turning on surveillance cameras around the city and the creation of a Community Response Team as recent steps the department has taken to improve public safety.

The real-time strategy gives watch commanders, or shift leaders, the ability to deploy officers in districts around the city to respond to in-progress crimes or patrol areas at risk of a retaliation attack. The surveillance cameras were installed years ago but switched off when Stockton first fell on hard financial times. The Community Response Team features two 11-officer teams focusing on areas that receive a high volume of calls.

Turning on the cameras and creating the response team cost roughly $78,000, according to police. The response team's focus is to be highly visible and reach out to residents in the troubled neighborhoods in order to gain their trust, Jones said. Although optimistic about the plan's potential, Jones said it will be a long and difficult process.

"Our issues with violent crime won't change overnight," he said.

Figures gathered though May 31 underscore Jones' assertion. The city's rates for homicide, aggravated assault and robbery in 2012 are already ahead of last year's pace.

Through the end of May, aggravated assaults are up 26 percent from what they were on May 31, 2011. Robberies are up 56 percent during that same period.